# Hercules Haulage

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Self acting tramway in Tasmania, Australia

The Hercules Haulage Line connected the Williamsford township to the Hercules Mine above

**The Hercules Haulage**, also known as the [Mount Read Haulage](/source/Mount_Read_(Tasmania)), the *Hercules Tram*[1] and the *Williamsford Haulage Line*,[2][3] was a self-acting [2 ft](/source/2_ft_and_600_mm_gauge_railways) (610 mm) [narrow gauge](/source/Narrow_gauge_railway) tramway on the side of [Mount Read](/source/Mount_Read_(Tasmania)) in [Western Tasmania](/source/Western_Tasmania), that connected the Hercules Mine with [Williamsford](/source/Williamsford%2C_Tasmania) and then to the [North East Dundas Tramway](/source/North_East_Dundas_Tramway).

## The Mine

The Haulage was created to move ores from the Hercules Mine on Mount Read.[4] The mine was operational between the 1890s and the 1980s, and closed in 2000;[5] rehabilitation works commenced in 2005.[6]

## The Haulage

The haulage was "self acting",[7] one mile (1.6 km) long and 1,642 feet (550m) high with a maximum gradient of 1 in 5.[8] It was claimed to be the largest and steepest self-acting tramway of its kind.[9][10]

## Later haulage

On the closure of the NE Dundas Tramway, the *Aerial Ropeway*[11] from Hercules was built which took ore in a northerly direction to Rosebery, some literature confuses the two separate systems.

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Harvey, John Henry 1855–1938 photographer (1880), [*Tram to Hercules Mine, Williamstown, Tas*](http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10724710), retrieved 6 April 2012{{[citation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Citation)}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_numeric_names:_authors_list))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [*Williamsford haulage c1890s*](http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/36698370), State Library of Tasmania, retrieved 6 April 2012

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [*Williamsford: collection of postcards*](http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/36698002), State Library of Tasmania, retrieved 6 April 2012

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Some references note the Hercules Mine as being on Mount Hamilton, a separate named feature on the slopes of Mount Read

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Hercules Mine, Williamsford, Rosebery district, West Coast municipality, Tasmania, Australia"](http://www.mindat.org/loc-11803.html).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Pollington, Michael; Lockley, Jim; Grun, Aniela; Pitt & Sherry (Firm) (2005), [*Hercules mine decommissioning and rehabilitation plan – public discussion draft*](http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/37951630), Pitt & Sherry, retrieved 6 April 2012

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [http://www.lexic.us/definition-of/self-acting](http://www.lexic.us/definition-of/self-acting) – see item 2

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Light Railways, number 35 Autumn 1971 p.22 has the gradient average as 1 in 3.2, and a maximum of 1.5 with operating speed of 14 mph – further details in Light Railways number 27, page 25 by Wayne Chynoweth

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** [Blainey, Geoffrey](/source/Geoffrey_Blainey) (2000). *[The Peaks of Lyell](/source/The_Peaks_of_Lyell)* (6th ed.). Hobart: St. David's Park Publishing. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7246-2265-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7246-2265-9). 3rd edition 1967 page 243

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** *NOTES ON SELF – ACTING TRAMWAY, THE HERCULES MINE, TASMANIA.*(A paper read before the Sydney University Engineering Society, November 12th,1902. By.B. SAWYER, B.E.) The Hercules Mine, situated on the western slope of Mount Hamilton, a spur of Mount Read, is connected with the terminus of the North-East Dundas Railway at Williamsford by means of an inclined self-acting tramway-on the endless rope system. The slope length of this line is eighty and a half chains, and the difference in elevation between the Government line and the "send-off" at the Mine is 1,642 feet. The average gradient is, therefore, 1 in 3'2, the maximum gradient being 1 in 1'5, and the minimum, i.e., the approach to Williamsford terminus, 1 in 8-8. source: [http://escholarship.usyd.edu.au/journals/index.php/SUES/article/.../2239](http://escholarship.usyd.edu.au/journals/index.php/SUES/article/.../2239)[*[permanent dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["ZINC COMPANY'S WORKS AT ROSEBERY — PREMIER'S TOUR"](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article24287563). *[The Mercury](/source/The_Mercury_(Hobart))*. Hobart, Tasmania. 13 September 1929. p. 10. Retrieved 6 April 2012 – via National Library of Australia.

## References

- Pink, Kerry. *The west coast story : a history of Western Tasmania and its mining fields* Rev. ed. Zeehan, Tasmania : [West Coast Pioneers Museum](/source/West_Coast_Pioneers_Museum), 1984. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-9598295-2-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-9598295-2-0)

- [Rae, Lou](/source/Lou_Rae) (2001). *The Abt Railway and Railways of the Lyell region*. Sandy Bay: Lou Rae. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-9592098-7-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-9592098-7-5).

- [Whitham, Charles](/source/Charles_Whitham). *Western Tasmania – A land of riches and beauty* (Reprint 2003 ed.). Queenstown: Municipality of Queenstown.

- Whitham, Lindsay (2002). *Railways, Mines, Pubs and People and other historical research*. Sandy Bay: [Tasmanian Historical Research Association](/source/Tasmanian_Historical_Research_Association). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-909479-21-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-909479-21-6).

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Hercules Haulage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hercules_Haulage) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hercules_Haulage?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.